I decided to do a video this year from the NE corner of Passaic and Union streets. Since the procession heads east on Passaic from the tracks and makes a left onto Union, it would offer more than one view from that point. I'm still using my little Canon camera to shoot video, so I put it on a tripod to lose any shakiness. I shot 13 segments that ranged from 6 seconds to 3 minutes and used 11 of them (QuickTime makes it very simple to combine them).

When the loudspeakered-truck at the very end passed me, I walked to my building down Union. Since the procession is slow-moving, by the time I got there, the party segment had only gotten that far, so I shot some more from there and finished up on the roof as everyone made another left onto Anderson St on their way to Holy Trinity Church for a special Mass.

This procession is like a mullet in reverse: it's party in the front and business in the back. It's such an unusual contrast to see SO many unusual characters and visuals dancing around to jumpy accordion music in the beginning and then hear the singing solemnity of the rear section in which the statue of Mary and baby Jesus is carried. At one point, you can hear both types of music, which is kind of interesting. I don't mean any disrespect, but to the uninitiated and uninformed, it's like going from the ridiculous to the sublime.

Since the event winds up at Holy Trinity, I think I should approach someone there and get the whole story. I'd really like to know what all these odd-looking figures represent. If we have anyone here from Ecuador, please enlighten us.